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Construction of TASIM underwater segment to take up to 8 months

Business Materials 27 January 2015 19:24 (UTC +04:00)
The process of construction of the underwater segment of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) will take up to seven or eight months

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 27

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

The process of construction of the underwater segment of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) will take up to seven or eight months, said an executive director of KazTransCom on infrastructure projects Alexander Kislitsyn.

"At the same time, the active phase of construction, namely the laying of cable under the Caspian Sea, will take about a month," he said.

The director said that the barge designed for cable, is moving at a speed of about five kilometers per hour. In addition, the work can be carried out only during daylight hours and in good weather conditions, since any storm delays the construction. In view of all these circumstances, the period of laying cable will take up to one month.

All the rest of the time (from seven to eight months) will be needed to develop a feasibility study (FS) of the project and implement the preparatory work.

The contract for the construction of the underwater segment has not been signed yet, and its timing is not clear, according to Kislitsyn.

But if the contract is signed, several months will pass from the start of its implementation to the laying of cable, and preparatory work will be carried out during this time, he said.

Most part of these works can be implemented at any time of the year, according to the executive director of the company. But laying of the cable itself is possible only in the period from mid-April to mid-October. In winter, it is impossible to lay the cable due to the fact that the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea is covered with floating ice, which can damage the cable-lay ship.

That being so, even if the contract for the construction of TASIM underwater segment is signed in the near future, it will be possible to lay the cable no earlier than in early 2016, according to Kislitsyn.

Earlier, Azerbaijan's Communications and High Technologies Minister Ali Abbasov said that Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan reached an agreement for construction of the underwater segment of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM).

He said a contract with Kazakhstan is expected to be signed in the first half-year, and the construction work can begin by late 2015.

TASIM project envisages the creation of a major transit line from Frankfurt to Hong Kong. The network, which will link the largest information exchange centers in Europe and Asia, will run through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to Germany.

A second alternative northern transit line is planned to run through Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

In addition, Azerbaijan sent an official appeal to Turkmenistan on the construction of a third alternative route of TASIM, a source on the telecommunications market of the country told Trend earlier.

The project of laying a third alternative route of TASIM through the territory of Turkmenistan was proposed by the World Bank (WB) and was supported by the project participants. The new route also has a way to China, as well as the East Asian countries (Indonesia, Vietnam, etc.), having high requirements for Internet capacity.

TASIM project currently involves the countries such as Russia (represented by Rostelecom), Kazakhstan (KazTransCom), Turkey (TurkTelecom), China (China Telecom). Azerbaijan is represented by the Center of International Relations and Calculations of the Ministry of Communications and High-Technologies.

TASIM project aims to reduce poverty, accelerate economic growth, and can also play a leading role in the development of the region.

Its implementation will eliminate the "information gap" between Western Europe and the Pacific.

Edited by CN

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova

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